Bounty offered for news of missing papers

Laura Camper

Thursday

May 24, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 24, 2007 at 10:49 AM

SPRINGFIELD -- The mysterious disappearance of about 50 Chicago Sun-Times newspapers from the newsstand in the lobby of the state Capitol prompted Rep. Harry Osterman, D-Chicago, to offer a $500 bounty for information on the alleged theft.

By LAURA CAMPER

STATE CAPITOL BUREAU

SPRINGFIELD -- The mysterious disappearance of about 50 Chicago Sun-Times newspapers from the newsstand in the lobby of the state Capitol prompted Rep. Harry Osterman, D-Chicago, to offer a $500 bounty for information on the alleged theft.

Daryl Sowers, who manages the newsstand, said he’s not sure if the papers were stolen or not delivered Wednesday morning.

“We usually get 150, but I didn’t count them this morning,” Sowers said.

He called the company that delivers the paper and was told all 150 had been delivered, he said.

Jamie Robinson, who works for Sowers at the newsstand, said the papers disappeared sometime between 6:30 and 8 a.m. Because they are not sure whether the papers were stolen or not delivered, she said the incident was not reported to the police.

According to Osterman, he bought one paper from a stack and went to the House chamber. When he returned to the stand about 15 minutes later, the papers had disappeared.

“I just thought it was odd,” Osterman said, explaining his reason for the announcement on the floor. He said Robinson didn’t tell him the papers had been stolen, just that they “had gone missing,” and he thought someone should look into the disappearance.

The Department of Human Services created the newsstand to provide jobs for people who are visually impaired or blind. Sowers, who is visually impaired, has managed the stand for 14 years. He said nothing like this has happened before.

Laura Camper can be reached at (217) 782-6882 or laura.camper@sjr-r.com.